SMU men split a pair of tough games at Duke Tournament

The SMU mens soccer team faced a stiff early season test as they traveled to North Carolina to play in the Duke Tournament. There they faced off against ACC powers North Carolina State and Duke.

In the tournament opener the Mustangs dropped a 1-0 decision to NC State in overtime. The decisive goal was scored off a corner kick when Ollie Kelly curled the ball directly into the net on the set piece in the 99th minute of play. Sophomore keeper Jaime Ibarra started his first game in goal for SMU recording three saves on the night.

"Sometimes soccer is a very cruel game," head coachTim McClementssaid. "If we play the way we did tonight, we're going to be okay. Barnes had a very good game; he did a great job in the midfield.Aaron Simmonswas great in the back. Top to bottom, we played very well. We did everything we needed to do, but it just didn't go our way.

In the closing match of the tourney SMU faced home side Duke and came out 1-0 winners. This match also was decided in overtime. Arthur Ivo netted the winner in the 94th minute of play after a good run from Juan Castillo. After Castillo battled his way through several defenders, the ball found Ivo who finished from 12 yards out.

Zach Barnes and Aaron Simmons were named to the All Tournament Team. SMU heads to Tulsa next weekend to face Oakland and UConn.

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